[BL] A Marriage Ruled by Family, Saved by Desire-Chapter 85: Her Cruel Words… My Silence

~Alexander’s POV~

Alis reached out, his cool fingers closing gently around my trembling hands. He looked up at me, his expression softening into quiet, weary calm.

"It’s okay, Alex," he said softly. "Let’s just rest for a while. We both need it."

~Alistair’s POV~

I guided him to the edge of the bed and gently urged him to sit. The moment he did, the apologies started pouring out.

He kept saying he was sorry, over and over, asking me not to go back and tell my mother what had happened here.

He looked completely shaken, like he didn’t even understand it himself.

"I don’t know what got into her," he said quietly. "I don’t know why she’s acting like this."

"It’s fine, Alex," I murmured, squeezing his hand. "Really, it’s fine."

Silence settled between us as we lay there, but my mind was anything but calm.

I tried to ease the tension by changing the subject, talking about my plans and the progress I was making with Andrew’s help.

But even as I spoke, my thoughts kept drifting back to my mother-in-law downstairs.

I realized then that even if things didn’t work out between Alex and me, his mother needed a lesson. She had spent so long being cruel that she didn’t even seem to realize how wrong she was. Just because I loved her son didn’t give her the right to treat me like trash. I needed her to understand that I wasn’t weak.

I wasn’t something to step on.

I was a person.

After a while, Alex opened his laptop to handle some work.

I stood up, my throat dry. "I’m going downstairs to get some water," I said. "I’m really thirsty."

"Don’t be long," he murmured, his eyes still on the screen.

"I won’t," I replied, stepping out of the room.

As I descended the stairs, I heard her voice. She was in the living room, lounging comfortably while making calls. She was laughing and chatting with her friends, acting as if the world were perfect and she hadn’t just tried to humiliate us. Like nothing had happened. And somehow... that made it worse.

I walked straight into the kitchen. The fear that usually gripped me in this house was gone, replaced by a cold, sharp frustration. I had reached my limit. I grabbed a glass, walked over to the dining table, and sat down in the seat directly across from where she could see me.

I poured the water slowly, the sound of it splashing into the glass the only thing punctuating her conversation. I didn’t hide. I didn’t shrink. I just sat there, taking a slow sip of the cold water while staring toward the living room.

Finally, sensing someone in her space, she pulled the phone away from her ear. She turned, her smug smile faltering as her eyes locked onto mine.

"You," she said, her voice dropping the friendly tone she’d used for her phone call. "I don’t remember giving you permission to sit at my table."

I didn’t even flinch. I took another slow, deliberate sip of the water, looking at her over the rim of the glass.

"Don’t worry, Mom," I said, my voice steady despite the fire burning in my chest. "I’m still your son-in-law. Until those papers are signed and filed, I still have every right to sit at this table as Alex’s husband."

The smugness on her face vanished, replaced by a sharp, cold sneer. She hung up her phone and stood, her heels clicking rhythmically against the floor as she marched over to the dining room. She pulled out the chair directly across from me and sat, leaning in until we were eye-to-eye.

"Why did you even come back?" she hissed, her voice dripping with venom. "I was expecting a courier with those divorce papers, not a visit from you. You were supposed to disappear and let this end, yet here you are, clinging to my son like a parasite."

I said nothing, letting her speak. I had reached my limit, and strangely, I felt nothing.

"I am overjoyed that your mother finally came to her senses and decided to end this," she laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. "I was so relieved when I heard she was preparing those papers. I don’t know why you felt the need to crawl back here for one last weekend instead of just sending the documents and staying away. What exactly do you think you’re accomplishing?"

I stayed silent, letting her words wash over me.

"You’re a dead end, Alis," she said, her voice dropping to a cruel tone. "You can’t give him a legacy. You can’t give this family an heir. You’re nothing but a mistake he made when he wasn’t thinking clearly. What do you profit him? You’re a burden, a stain on his reputation."

She leaned back, her eyes raking over me with pure disgust. "I’m counting down the days until that letter arrives. I don’t know why you have to do this, why you have to come back and pretend this marriage has a future. You’re just a guest we’re forced to tolerate until the paperwork is done."

She went on, her insults becoming more personal, more pointed. She attacked my worth, my masculinity, and my place in Alex’s life. She spoke as if I weren’t a human being with feelings, but an obstacle she was determined to clear away.

I sat there, watching her lips move, watching the way her face contorted with bitterness. I let her say everything she had bottled up. I let her empty her lungs of every homophobic slur and every cruel observation she’d been saving.

When she finally stopped to take a breath, looking at me with a triumphant glint in her eye as if she expected me to burst into tears and run, I simply set my glass down. The house was silent again, but the air between us was electric.

I waited a beat, making sure she was truly finished. I didn’t rush. I didn’t raise my voice. I just looked at her and for the first time, I didn’t see a queen. I saw a hollow woman.

"You know, Mom," I started slowly...